Beet harvester



Jun 17, 1930. G, M, FEUERsTEm Er AL 1,765,224

BEET HARVESTER b Filed June 14. 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet. l

MMM.

June 17, 1930.

G. M. FEUERSTEIN Er AL 1,765,224

BEET HARVESTER' Filed June 14, 192'? 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 17, 1930.

G.y. M. FEUERSTEIN El' AL BEET HARVESTER 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 14, 1927 atroz new June 17, 1930. 5. M. FEUERSTEIN Er AL v 1,765,224

BEET ifARvEs'rER Filed June 14, 1927 sheets-sheet .4

Patented June 11, 1930 PATENT oFFicEfg GEORGE M. EEUERSTEIVN Aim ACARL FEuERsTEiN, F ALGOMA, wisconsin A f -1 BEETl HAIwiisTERv Application filed June '154,

This. invention relates to beet 'harvest/ers, and particularly to the beet topping mechanism thereof.

rlhe general object of the inventionA is to provide an improved means for trimming the tops off of thebeets to thereby clear the way for the topping knife, provide av topping knife, and means for causing the topping knife-to-raise and loweras it rides over the fw beets to thus cut thetops therefrom, andr to .provide means to clearthe loose tops from the front of the beet digging plow.

A further object vin this connection is .to provide av topping knife mounted for vertical movement and an'endlessbelt or equivalent element vhaving .its vflights extending downward andv rearward at an inclination and adapted to ride over the top ofthe beets, knocking thetops down, andguiding the knife so as to enablethepknife to cut olf the tops in a uniform manner. A still further object is t provide means for knocking downtheloose tops sothat they will not follow around said endless element orbelt. f ,f

Another 'object is to provide adevice lof this character havingv twinbelts. or endless elements operatively connected toA the topping knifefor slight independent movement with relation to the knife tothereby perother, making it possible for the endless elements to clear themselves wheny clogged by ldirt or stones. 1 V f the following description. p

, Our. invention is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, wherein :---V f Figurey L 1 is'a- 4fragmentary. vertical y longii vzioftudinal sectional view of theforward end of our beetdigger; Y.

Figure' lah-:is vertical sectional'view of the rearendofthe-beet digger; o f' Figure'2 is` atop plan view ofthe forward 415 end of the beet digger; i"

, Figure 2a isa topf'p'lan l'"viewfof 'the rear end of thebeetV digger; Y

' Figure 3 is a rea-r elevation ofthe cutter supporting yoke, the supporting bars thereof being in section'. Y v

Other objects willi` the 1clour'seof with' are the forward drivingrollerrsi 31 spaced 1927. serial'ivo. 198,803.

Referring to these drawings, 1,0 designates the side bars of the frame. These side bars at their rear endsrcarry the rear axle llup'on which are mounted the rear wheels 12.- The forward end ofthe frame is supported upon an axle `13 carrying the steering wheels 14,' these wheels beingmountedupon steering4 knuckles 15 and being connected for unitary movement and to be guided by means of the steering wheel 16. We donot wish to be -lim- L i ited to any particular meansfor steering this beet digger.v The 'beet digger is designed to be drawnby horses through the mediu'miof Y any suitable tractive'hitch. A seat 117Y is provided forthe'operator just rearwardv of the ,65 steering'wheel. y f v Mounted upon a bracket 1S extendingforward from the front axle 13 is a sleeve 19 and operating through this sleeve is the vertically disposed pin20'of a yoke which sup- 7o ports the beet top cutting wheels 21.4 These wheels are spacedsufliciently apart v-so that they will extend on each side of the row of beets without touchingy the beets themselves and will act to cut the loose tops therefrom. These cutting Lwheels are' urged downward byv a spring 22'extending around thepin20 andbearing downward upon the yoke which supports the wheels. The wheels' may be Y Y j raised upward against the action of the spring mit these belts to lift, independently of each 22 by means of the operating lever 23 oper` ating over the -usual segment '24, the lever beingv p/rovided vwith meansv for engagingthe segment andholding thelever ing-any adjusted position. The levervis disposed, ofcourse, 8 convenient to the driversy seatj sothat he .may havecontrol of th'ese ,top trimming wheels-'or disks 21.vr l

:Mounted in.' brackets 25 extending downward from the beams 10 fis ayoke 26. This 9oyoke ismounted upon aitransverse shaftV 27, .which in turn is mounted in'these brackets,v and the yoke is pivotally mounted 'uponthis 'shaft so that it, maybe raised orlowered. The yoke carries afleverv ,'28` operatin-gover va 9,5- segmentf29 and'engageable with v,thesegment Y forvarious adjustments... Extendingthrough the rear`l endl ofl 'the yoke'is a :shaft 13(7),v and mounted upon this shaft, and rotatingthereloro Y j ,upward and pvotauyvengaged, allev'err '42 'this level OPGIMHg Over' a sean/lentV 43 from each other and supporting the endless belts 32, these belts being disposed side by side and being of any suitable material and of anyk desired construction. As illustrated, thefbelts are formed of Hat links operatively engaged with each other so as to provide al flexible Vendless element. c

Also mounted upon the shaft for oscillation therearoundy are the longitudinally extending` supporting bars. and .34, the bar 34 being longer thanl the bar'33an'd Vat' its rear end being angularly extended, as at 345,. vThe rear ends of the bars 33 and 34 carry bearings 36 within which is disposed the angularly directed shaft 37, Mounted uponl the bars 33 and 34 are the two1 vertical legs l'38' of aV knife supportingy frame, the lowerV endsv of which support the diagonally extendingknife blade 39. This supporting frame 38 is con'- nected bya hook 40 to arod 4l, extending i in the usual mannery so that the rear end of the endless elementsandthe topping knife may rbe'raised or lowere f Supporting therear 'rollers 731iI of the endless elements 32'is a yoke 43 having anA upwardly extending spindle144which extends through the crossvbar of the ltop of the knife supporting frame. This cross barbas sleeves through which pins `44 extend and yokes 43 are urged downward by springs 45 surrounding the sleeve and pins and'ubearing against c Y, the'yokes. YThus, while the rear ends of the endless elements are mounted formoyement with the topping knife support-ing frame 38, each of the endless elements isinolependently movable with relation to the other endless element. v y

-On the shaft 37 arethe approximately ical rollers46 and 47 having awidth ofat least'that of the'corresponding 'endless elements. These rollers arerinclinedto the path Y oftravel ofV the endless b'elements so asltoV knock down the loose tops after they haveA been cutand pushthem to one side" so thatV they. will not follow around with the belts 32.`

These roller`s46 and 47 'aregmounted to" ro?- Vtate withshaft'37, and theshaft V37 is driven byfabeveled gear wheel 48 meshing with a beveled gear `wheel 49 mounted upon. alongi tudina-llyfextend'ing shaft'50 carrying abey'# eledfgear wheel 51"meshi ng with the bpev'eled Y gear Wheel 30501-1*v` the 'shaft'i30ff vThis shaft 30 in turn VVcurie's upon'it the pulley 30b drive krollers"4 6 and 47aremountedto'ijotateiwith r- Wheleo# injure Sharpen; fvfThisfshaft 3o in turncarriesupongitlthe pulley 30rbvdrivenlbymeans of a belt or sprocket chain from a pulley 52 mounted'on shaft 27.y Shaft 27 car# ries a sprocket wheel 53 driven by a sprocket chain 54 from a sprocket wheel 55 on trans- Y verse shaft 56. This shaft also carries sprocket wheel 57 driven by sprocket chain 58 from sprocket wheel 59 mountedgon shaft 1 1, Y It will be seenl that the forward rollers supporting the endless elements 32 ar'epos i- I Rearward of the beet topping mechanism there is .disposed means for cleanino' the "ground of tops and throwing the tops ally outward comprising avertical Ashaft 60 'whichcarries at 'its lowerendthe radiating arms 6l having downwardly extending-fingers 62. The shaft 60 is caused to rotate'by means of a beveled gear wheel y6,3 engaged by a beveled gear wheel 641nounted Vupon the transverse shaft56. Operating rearward of the top cleaner fingers are the beet plows 65, and'mounted'upon the rear end' of the frame bars 10 are the downwardly and rearwardly .extending armsV or brackets 66. `l`hese sup-V port the transverse shafts vrV67 carrying/'a roller or rollers 68 over which a pluralityof belts L l69 pass. These belts extend forward andfover a plurality of'rollersl O mounted upon ashaft l, which shaft is Voperatively"supportedby means of vertically extending 'rods' 72,- 'the se rodsbeing connected to al lever 7 3, which 1n turny operates over a segment rack 74fwhereby Y thefglever may be adjusted and the' forward ends of theconveyor raised or lowered, Y 1^)isposed between the rollers 70r are` a plu# rality of radially pointed orstar-shapedidlsks 75. f These areidisposed between the severalv rollers .705 and' act p to carry the beets -up Yonto the'conveyor belts 69 fand the conveyor beltsY carry the beetsgrea'rward, shaking the, earth off the beets, and discharge the beets rearward ofthemachine; These conveyor belts 69 are ieu imAV

fdrivenbyineans of a crossed belt 176 which engagesl a Vwheel l7 7 mounted Vupon the' 'shaft i67 land operating overthe wheellSfmounted upon the traction wheelrshaft 11'.,4 LThe beet plows 65aremounted upon the-rear endsof longitudinally extending members 779,151@- ported at their forward ends on vertical mem bers '('Qa'depending fromthe beams 10, and are:v braced Vtherefrom by the' braces 80. ,These im Jin longitudinal members 7 9 are alsooperatively c i connected tothe cross braces y81A whichact to*` Y f beveledV gear Ywheel 48 'meshing with-a beveled .Y rgear wheel V49l mounted .upon Y a z longitudinally Y extending? shaft 50 carryingua lbevele'd gear longitudinally extending! members are! conframe in anysuitable manner and'extends Vrearward over a segment rackz with which per end of this lever 87 is connected by a link 89 to the rear end of the yframe of the machine. It is obvious, therefore, that as the crank shaft 86 rotates, the fingers 88 will be caused to describe a circular path and will act to move upward and then downward in front of ay beet and then throw the beet upward 'and onto the conveyor. j

The operation of the beet harvester is as follows: The beets are plowed up by the or-y dinary beet plow orplows suitably mounted on the frame or chassis. Before the beets are plowed up, however, the tops are trimmed by the trimming disks 21 so as to cut off as ymuch of the surplus tops as possible. The topping knife then cuts off the tops of the beets', the topping knife beingv raised and lowered by the endless elements 32 which, being downwardly and rearwardly inclined, act to climb ping knife to a proper position to engage the top at its junction with the beet itself. 'Ihe rear end of this caterpillar gauging device, therefore, rides on the tops of the beets, knocking them down, and enabling the knife to cut oflI the tops in a uniform manner. At'

the rear of the caterpillar gauging device are the knock-down rollers 46 and 47 which tend to keep the tops from traveling over and around the caterpillar belts. Beet tops are very large and tend to clog machines vof this character and anything that will pare'them downor get them out of the way is a greatl help to the operation'ofthe machine and to the accurate gaugingfof the topping knife. .'These loose tops are further gottenfout of theway by the four-armed top clearer which is disposed rearward of the knock-down roll*y ers. This wipes or pushesthe loose tops out of the path of the plow so they will not be carried up into the loading conveyor. Y

` It will be seen that the endless belts which act to gauge the topping knife are vertically adjustable at their forward ends by'means of the ground.

the lever 28 which acts to 'raise or lower the yoke 26 and thus raise or lower the shaft sup porting the forward rollers for the endless elements. Thus the inclination of these endlesselements maybe controlled and the forward end raised or lowered to any desired extent. The rear Lend of the endless elements and, of course, the topping knife, maybe raised entirely out of contact and away from It willbe seenr that this device is relatively simple and it has been found to be particularly',v efficient' in n practice, particularly with "rerl ing 'the topping knife.

We claim vl'. In a beet harvestinginechanism, a beet y topping -knife,aframe supporting the same and 'mounted for vertical movement, later ally disposed side vbars engaged with the. frame near their rear ends and extending upward a-nd forward, a shaft vupon which the forward ends of the side barsV are mounted for vertical gardtothe meansfor supportingfand lift'- swinging movement, rollers operativelyfsupv ported-upon said side bars near the rear ends thereof,va shaft extending through-the forward ends of the side bars'and pivotally sup- 'porting the same, rollers mounted upon the shaft, endless elements, each'pass'ing over one of theforward rollers and one of the rear roll'- 'ers,"`the endless elements having 'sligh't'ven tical 'movement Vat their rear ends with'y relation tothe Yframe and with relation to each other, 'and rollers for knockingl down the'beet tops mounted rearward of said endless elements and upon said side bars, said rollers each having the form of a truncated cone and being mounted upon an axisextending diagonally with relation to the longitudinal movement of the endless elements. over the tops of the beets and elevate the top- 2. In a beet harvester, an inverted U-shaped l knife supporting frame, a topping knife -f mounted at the lower end thereof, side bars having limited movement uponthe U-shaped frame and extending forwardly and upwardly from the legs thereof, a transverse shaft lupon which the sidek bars are pivotally mounted 'for vertical movement, a pair of driving rollers mounted upon the transverse 4 a pair of endless'elements passing overtheA first named rollers and aroundv the second named rollers, onel of said lelements being longer than the other,`a diagonally disposed shaft extending rearward of the'endless .ele-

ments and mounted upon said sidebars, and` truncated conical rollers mounted upon said A diagonal shaft, each behind one of the endless elements and acting to knock down the loose tops as they are cu v f n 3. In a beetharvesting machine, a beet topp ping knife, a frame supporting the same for vertical movement,y laterally disposed side ends and pivotally supported at their forllO Y bars engagedv with said frame near'theirrear Y ward ends whereby said side bars may have l vertical swinging movement, rollers roper-v atively supported upon said side bars near the rear ends, rollers operatively supported upon said. side bars at their forward ends,

endless elements each passingV over one ofy l the forward rollers and vone `of therearlrollers, conical' rollers disposedrearward `of the endless VelementsY Y on an axis inclined'V to the axes of vthe rear rollers Jfor said endless elements, and means for rotating'gsaid conical rollers inthe samevdireetion as the direction l 5 of rotation of the rollers supporting said 20 signatures.

endless elements, said conical lrollers acting Y to knock down the beet tops andv shit the. beet tops laterally. Y 2 j i y 4. In a beet harvesting machine, a wheeled 10 supporting frame, a beet topping knife car-l ried by the franie,fbeet engagingmeans act-v ing -to raise or lower the beet Vtopping knife to lering it in `proper relation to the beets,-Ineans disposed rearward ofrsaid knife and acting to 15 discharge the tops of therbeets laterally, and

i arotatable top clearer mounted rearward of the topping knife and; rotatable in allori? Vzontal plane;`

Y l,Intestimony'whereo,f weherennto aiixour- CARL FEUERSTEIN. GEO! M. v FEUERSTEIN. 

